Titan Attack
by Moonphase
Summary: The Empire of Cyclonia is under attack from an unknown force. Follow our Cyclonian characters as, for the next two days, they fight the battle of their lives. Friendships are formed; family is lost; alliances broken; death prevails; romance fails and an Empire crumbles. (Loosely inspired by the anime, 'Attack on Titan'.)
1. Chapter 1

Notes: Ignore the season ending. Warning: I have a delightful habit of taking wacky fun kids shows and turning them dark and boringly adult.

This is loosely based off an Anime I saw on Netflix called Attack On Titan. If you haven't seen it I recommend it. It's the first anime I've seen that doesn't have flashing flashing their breasts, knickers or anything else. It also avoids the annoying 'tough girl' character who just hits the male lead, and avoids the idiot 'cute girl' character who inexplicably talks like a four year old and always falls over. No, all characters are pretty equal and interesting, So it's very good, imo. The storyline is a bit hardcore and sad though.

Anyway, enjoy.

Pre-Dawn: The Evening Before.

"Therefore Master, it is looking as though the food shortage situation will worsen over the next few months."

Master Cyclonis grit her teeth, but showed no outer sign of weakness.

The Senate glanced at one another before one began; "however, should we successfully take control of a more prosperous terra…"

"We cannot rely on that," she bit out, hating her words. They were sitting in a darkened room, all around a large, white round table. The Senate were small and made up of the most important people in the Cyclonian Empire who had not, yet, angered the Empress.

There was another moment of tension before anyone dared to speak; desperation made them brave.

"The majority of our taxes are going towards the expenses of the Talons," said Mr. Tinamou, the head of the Cyclonian Merchants and one of the richest, and most corrupt, members of the Senate. "It's becoming insurmountable. We need to see some sort of benefit for our investment. The amount the Dark Ace takes up alone…"

"Silence!" she barked, her voice momentarily becoming that of two people. The Senate cowed. "We all know the situation has changed. With the appearance of the Storm Hawks the acquisition of other Terras has become far more difficult. I will do all in my power to gain more land, but it cannot be guaranteed. It seems that you will need to start doing more- take control of your farmers and force them to work longer and harder hours; make sure you lands are fertile; employ more hands. Do whatever it is you need to do to keep your provinces reasonably comfortable. In the meantime, I shall continue to work on my crystals to create one that will help us. This is all I have to say on the matter."

The Senate looked pissed off, but unable to say anything.

"Anything else?" she queried lightly.

"Crime is on the rise once more due to-" began one.

"Re-instate the death penalty."

"We already have it!"

"Then kill more people!" she barked at him, patience at an all time low, "Death Penalty for any crime- no matter the age of the criminal! That will stop the crime wave no doubt! It will surely help the over-population issue also!"

"Yes Master…"

"There is a situation with the Talons," said another, Madam Emus. "There are increasing reports of deserters."

Cyclonis sighed; desertion had always been a problem for her empire but since Dark Ace becoming their difficult leader, and then the emergence of the Storm Hawks, desertion had been steadily climbing every year.

"Perhaps if military service was not mandatory…"

"Everyone must serve Cyclonia, you know this."

"True," said Madam Emus diplomatically. "But maybe not all should serve as soldiers The role does not suit every personality; some are too incompetent or unhealthy. Perhaps if there were a wider variety of roles we could accept are young men and women in those instead."

"We need the high amount of trained soldiers we have in order to complete our missions," Cyclonis answered. "Individual competency doesn't matter so much if there is a high number of talons wearing down the enemy."

"But the missions are failing!" cried Mr Tinamou, losing all restraint.

"The troops are demoralised," added Captain Rhea, who trained new recruits. "It's becoming harder and harder to motivate them. They see themselves as only being canon-fodder while their leaders what little glory there is. I mean no disrespect to the Dark Ace or any of your Commanders," he added quickly, reading Cyclonis's face, "but we're possibly talking rebellion here; resentment can quickly turn to anger."

"And factoring in the fact that their families are at home starving," sighed Madam Emus, "I wouldn't be surprised if we saw an uprising…"

"Has anyone heard any specific whispers of treachery?"

"No, My Master," said Lord Cassowary, the eldest member of the Senate and one who'd lived through the Cyclonian Revolution when her Grandmother had ruled the Empire, "but I see the patterns of old repeating."

Master Cyclonis snorted quietly. Her head hurt. A migraine was coming.

"Increase the pro-Cyclonian propaganda amongst our Terras," she said at last, "focus on unity and togetherness. Do not mention future rations, but focus on me creating new crystals to help their plight. How is population control? We still have too many people…"

"It's not quite working," said Mr Tinamou grumpily, "I bought in thousands of different forms of birth control, but few are buying it."

"Why?!" cried Cyclonis, feeling frustrated. The birth control was being given out at half price- it wasn't as though the people couldn't afford it.

"The old religion of Terra Tundrus is still making the rounds," answered Captain Rhea, "with the failing missions and starvation, people are turning back to the old sky gods. In particular the Ira Worshippers seem to be gaining hold."

"That mad cult has everyone convinced that birth control is against the wishes of their goddess," spat out Madam Emus.

"What about the educational specials?" Cyclonis put her hand to her forehead in a momentary show of tiredness, "haven't we been showing programmes in schools to teach them about the benefits of birth control?"

"They are distrusted." Madam Emus sat back in her chair, "too many of our people aren't really ours; they're nations we've overthrown and whose sons and daughters we've forced into our armies. I think the refusal to control populations is an act of defiance."

"Then let's be frank with them," replied Cyclonis in a flat voice, "let them know that they will starve if they do not control the size of their families. When the time comes, if it comes, we will not give aid to families large than five."

"B-but," began Captain Rhea, "with such a declaration, the people may panic and begin…well…killing members of their family to get the numbers down. The need for food and resources will make them desperate."

Cyclonis stood, "then they should have obeyed my original command. Let them pray to their sky goddess for mercy. This meeting is over. Madam Emus, if you could write upthe Minutes for this time I would appreciate it."

"Yes Master, they will be delivered out by the end of the day."

The senate vacated the room, all of them in low spirits.

Cyclonis stepped out into the dark red corridors. She knew that her Senate were not impressed or convinced by her answers. Like Ancient Rome, as Cyclonia began to grow, so too did the strain on her and her government. Controlling populations and keeping law and order was becoming difficult. Pleasing everybody was impossible.

However, she had no choice to keep on going- it was her destiny to carry on the family ethos. She let her hood rise up about her, blocking out some of the red, glaring light which was compounding her headache. She found herself turning away from the direction that would lead her to her bedroom and instead heading down corridor she'd been many times since her childhood. Doors of private bedrooms stood in neat rows down the hallway. It was early evening and all her soldiers were eating dinner in the main food hall. Therefore, the hallway was deserted. Punching in the familiar password to his room, ('seriously, had he ever changed it since his arrival?') the door opened and the cool white and grey room welcomed her. She stepped inside. The room, as all the rooms except her own, was exceedingly small, just barely enough space for a slim wardrobe, a single bed beside a window and a desk with a chair beside it.

Pulling off her boots and cloak she climbed into the bed and shut her eyes. Within moments, she was fast asleep.

It wasn't a rare occurrence for Dark Ace to return to his room and find the Master fast asleep in his bed. It was a very annoying habit she'd developed in childhood. It was pretty selfish, to rob him of his bed when she had a huge one of her own, but, somewhere deep down, (down where a piece of him was still the young sky knight he used to be) he understood why she was in his room and as such accepted it with as much grace as he could.

Resigning himself, Dark Ace sat on his chair and leaned his head on the desk. This would be his resting place tonight.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Day One: The Cold, Impassive Morning**

 **A.N.** I apologise in advance for the OC's in this. I do not like using OC's as, in fanfiction, most people don't give a living fuck over some character you made up, they're here to read about characters they know. Unfortunately while the show gave us a lot of good guys, we had hardly anything on the villains and even less on the normal, regular knows why they invested so little into their villains, as it would have helped the show a lot.

In any case, I needed to make some characters up, otherwise the story would be a bit thin. I need more Cyclonians to create a world, if that makes sense.

The OC's won't take over the story (it's not about them); they are here as fodder, fodder that has a name, characteristics and some back story.

Let me know what you think on how I did, I'm always keen to hear feedback.

The first warning they had that anything was wrong was the following morning at their usual Briefing. All the Talon Commanders were there, including Ravess, Snipe and Dark Ace.

Cyclonis stood with her back to the window of her throne room. Pure white light shone through- it was a rare clear day in Cyclonia. It highlighted her, giving her a slight halo which made her appear as a ghostly Saint of Darkness.

She was ranting away in her whispery voice as usual; Snipe had already stopped listening and was becoming restless. However both Ravess and Dark Ace were listening very carefully. They knew the Master could be very closed off and rarely told them everything which often affected missions negatively. It was good to listen and read between the lines sometimes.

Besides, this morning had been odd.

Dark Ace woken stiff and a little sore, but had put the sensation of pain away from himself. He opened bright scarlet eyes to see Cyclonis staring at him from his bed. He sat up and stared back at her until at last she'd stated, "I feel unwell. Something is wrong."

The weather was strange as well. The red stormy skies of Cyclonia were unusually calm and bright. It was almost as pleasant as Terra Atmosia. A bad omen indeed.

"There has not been a single report from Terra Zartacla in almost two weeks." She explained dispassionately. "Dark Ace and Snipe, you are both to head there with a battalion."

"A battalion!" cried Ravess, who had no self-control, "is that really necessary my Master?"

"It's a terra full of criminals and enemies of the state," replied Master calmly, "if it has been taken over by them, it will be exceedingly dangerous. I want to make sure everything is as it should be."

Dark Ace saluted, Snipe following shortly after, before they left the room.

"So…what are we doing again?" Snipe asked Dark Ace, having the decency to look a little ashamed for his ignorance.

"Just a field trip," muttered Dark Ace, feeling disquiet about the whole thing. He wanted the day to be over. Before she would have never sent him with Snipe and a battalion, just he alone could do the job. But since Aerrow and the Storm Hawks, faith in his abilities had been shaken. Dark Ace was no longer untouchable and was beginning to be increasingly viewed as just another boring Talon. He knew the armies of Cyclonia respected him less, and it stung to think that now even is most loyal supporter was doubting him so much that she was sending him with Snipe, of all people! It made him feel sick; pride and anger were the only emotions Dark Ace could feel keenly, and now both of them were stained as wholly negative. It meant he was even more vile and nasty tempered than usual.

He organised Battalion 4.5 quickly. Battalion 4.5 consisted of five hundred older and more experienced soldiers as Dark Ace had no time for fifteen-year-old rookies, especially if they were facing a terra full of ex-cons, prisoners of war and Traitors. The Carrier they used was the old but reliable 'War Horse.' The talons piled inside, carrying with them various weapons and pulling along their rides.

A battle was expected.

"Goddess help us if those damn Storm Hawks are there," muttered General Guinea, the Leader of the Battalion, to his senior officer. The General was a heavy set man with dark blond hair and a rough beard. He was around fifty-two and coming up near retirement age. It was rare for Talons to last as long as him, but he was an old battle axe and a respected leader amongst the troops.

"Sir," said Blizzard, his Officer, by way of response, "is it really necessary for all of us to go? It's only one terra…"

"Who are we to question to wisdom of Master Cyclonis?" he answered with a roll of the eyes.

Blizzard smirked. "I wouldn't mind," she continued, "but Albedo and I were hoping to do something else today."

"Family stuff?"

She nodded, "our nephew is graduating Talon Academy today."

General Guinea looked at her. She and her brother, Albedo, were both within his battalion. He'd also known their brother in law. Albedo and Blizzard were fine soldiers, the pair being six foot tall with a shock of white hair. Neither were pretty, but they were striking. Most of all, they had the right attitude to being soldiers; they could separate emotion from the job. It was rare to find either of them complaining about not spending time with their families, even though he knew they felt it.

"Congratulations." He responded at last.

"I know you don't really agree with them sir, but it's an important occasion for us and the boy. His mother is very proud." She paused, "you remember Talon Kehaar? That was the boy's father. He died in the invasion of Terra Tranquil."

He reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "He was a fine man, and I'm sure his son is also."

She looked away, her voice calm and her eyes stern. "He should have lived to make it to General himself sir."

"I agree," he looked over to where the Dark Ace stood, "but unfortunately the Master favours a different sort of personality."

"And coincidentally our Empire seems to be failing," Blizzard responded coolly, "not that correlation equates to causation of course…"

"Of course, but I would have preferred it if we had no loud-mouth, glory-hogging commanders with us today. It's why I hate these academies, I'm sure your boy is a good man, considering his stock, but looking at what comes out of these academies," they both watched as Snipe swaggered into the Hall, "I can't help but question their usefulness." He looked back at her, "hopefully we can get this mess sorted out quickly and get back here for the early afternoon. Would that be enough time to make it?"

"Hopefully, the ceremony is at four pm, and a meal is to be held at six."

"Great! Miss the ceremony, join the meal! Sounds like the better choice to me!"

Blizzard let out a rare bark of a laugh before stalking away to see her brother. General Guinea knew he shouldn't encourage such insubordination within his ranks against the empire, but it couldn't be helped. Now the Sky Knights were becoming a real threat again (thanks to new blood forming revived teams) the general populace weren't respectful or fearful of the Cyclonian army anymore. The General couldn't help but lay the blame on Dark Ace. He knew he wasn't the only one either. It was the arrogance of that Talon that repeatedly let them down.

Their lead fighter was beaten, repeatedly, by a teenage boy! It was an embarrassment.

General Guinea was one of the few generals old enough to remember when Dark Ace had been a Storm Hawk; even back then he'd been an arrogant little shit, though, admittedly, back then he had a little more humour. Now he was an arrogant little shit with a stick permanently shoved up his arse.

Talon Fraust, a small man in his early forties and with about seven kids back home, stood beside the General and gave a smart salute.

"We're done packing up all the crystals and weapons sir. We're ready to go."

"Good work. I'll let the Lordships know."

As soon as Dark Ace and Snipe were assured everything was ready by the General, they all climbed on board. The War Horse charged up slowly before lumbering out of the Cyclonian dock and entering the white sky.

Dark Ace looked up at it. The absence of red, swirling clouds was too strange. The terras of Cyclonia almost looked peaceful.

Soon they passed through the main terras of Cyclonia and into the cloudy, misty heavens of the Greater Empire.

A game of cards began amongst some of the senior members of the Talons. Snipe settled down between Zephyr and Hail.

"Boss," greeted Zephyr.

"Hey," answered Snipe a little unsurely. He'd never really worked Zephyr out, even though they'd both trained at the same academy before becoming talons for three years. He knew Ravess used to have a crush on him and he used to tease her about it, but that was about it.

"Hail," he nodded at the pretty talon, who was already throwing money on the table.

"Playing or talking, choose Snipe," she sneered. He hated that she still spoke to him like that, but he felt no confidence in pulling her up on it. Back in the Academy, Hail had been the bomb. She had been so cool everyone loved her (apart from Ravess, who resented her, and himself, who always as kind of scared of her.) She was scary in the same way Dark Ace was; she was quiet and far too smart. He never knew when she was being sarcastic.

He threw in a wad of cash despite being shit at any card game, and began to play.

In the corner of his eye, he saw Dark Ace slinking off upstairs to the Bridge. He'd spend the entire journey staring out, waiting for any Sky Knights. Snipe rolled his eyes, when he wasn't in the air Dark Ace was ridiculously boring and predictable.

The Commander himself knew how it looked when he never partook in talking to the talons around him, but he didn't care. 'It isn't good to get attached to people,' a distant part of his mind told him. And it wasn't. He didn't have the bond of growing up with these people; he wasn't a Cyclonian by birth and when he had first become a member of the empire, he'd spent all his early years with just Master Cyclonis and her grand-mother. He had no friends, and furthermore wanted no friends. As far as he was concerned, Talons were a bunch of incompetent idiots that he had to utilise to the best of his ability to serve the Master. Nothing more, nothing less.

The journey was just under an hour and there were no problems on the way in. The whole air space belonged to Cyclonia, so that wasn't too surprising. Even so, if there had been a jail break at Zartacla, or if Sky Knights were involved, then they expected an attack before now.

Perhaps they were all on the Terra still?

But it had been two weeks since they last had heard anything.

So perhaps they had already escaped?

Dark Ace scowled, if that was the case then he hoped Cyclonis wouldn't send him out to collect everyone. He was a warrior not a Bounty Hunter.

The landed War Horse in the prison yard as it was the only space large enough to house them. Dark Ace divided the Batallion into four teams of a hundred and twenty-five, then set them out to the four corner of the vast prison. Twenty-five would take their Rides and keep watch in the air. The rest would be on foot, going through the various halls of the prison.

"Keep your communication gear open," he ordered, "the enemy may be laying in wait inside. There may be an ambush. Keep aware. Remember, you can kill without mercy. These are violent criminals. Their lives have no meaning or use. You and your team are more important." He saluted and they mimicked him, before each part set out.

The atmosphere was eerie. Save for the soft susurration of the wind the land was completely silent. There was no birdsong, no whisper or running feet of prisoners or guards.

But most alarmingly there was the smell; the scent of blood and death permeated the air.

"Can you smell that?" Dark Ace asked Snipe.

"Yeah it stinks," grunted the Talon.

"It's death," said Dark Ace, "there's dead bodies inside."

"Ew," was the intelligent but relatable response.

"Go to the western blocks and keep an eye on the men there, I'll go East. If I'm right, and I am, then we'll see some pretty terrible stuff in here. The men might be traumatised."

"No way," sneered Snipe, thinking of the likes of the General or Blizzard, "these aren't Rookies. They know what they're doing."

"Maybe." Dark Ace ran into the opening ahead of him, not waiting to see Snipe doing the same but in the opposite direction.

Inside was very dark. Evidently none of the lights were working. All the prison doors were wide open, though many of the bars were bent and twisted, as if something very large and powerful had ripped them open to get out of - or into - the prison cells.

He could hear the rest of the battalion marching through the corridors, their feet slow and heavy. Inside the smell was stronger. Blood was everywhere; upon the walls, across the floor, congealed blood made ruby red stalactites from the ceiling.

There had been a massacre in here.

Breathing tightly through his mouth Dark Ace turned on his switchblade and mimicked his men, walking slowly. The blood was congealing and sticky, making movement difficult. He tried to think how long it would take blood to go like this: days, hours? The answer would help decipher if the creature that had done this was still in the building. The atmosphere was filthy giving one the unpleasant sensation of crawling skin. Dark Ace refused to allow himself to shudder as he walked deeper into the cavernous, claustrophobic prison. The stink of fear (sweat and piss, for those wondering) was almost as strong as the coppery stink of blood, or the rotting of corpses.

It wasn't too long before Dark Ace came across a single leg in the hallway. It had belonged to a prisoner, going by the material strapped around it which had once been a trouser leg.

He bent down and analysed the leg. It looked as if it had been torn off crudely, rather than cut. It looked like there were large bite-marks on the severed point.

"Sir?"

Dark Ace looked up to see a pale and wide eyed General Guinea, "it's like this on all the floors," the General reported. Dark Ace allowed himself to respect the General a little for not sounding as scared as he looked. "There's body parts scattered about, but mostly it's just blood."

Dark Ace looked at the men behind the General, they were also pale and sickly looking. Their boots were steeped in blood.

"These men have been eaten," said Dark Ace, "which is why we're only finding parts of them."

"So, perhaps they were attacked by Beasts?"

This wouldn't be the first time a Terra was attacked by the horrors from the Wastelands.

"Possibly," answered Dark Ace, "but one thing bothers me."

"What's that Sir?"

"Wasteland Beasts are just animals. They eat when they are hungry. But, going by the uneaten body parts, and the violence it must have taken to dispatch all the people here," he looked around at the ceilings and walls painted in blood, "it looks less like hungry Beasts and more like a vicious attack. Only humans are sadistic like that."

He turned and marched outside, hearing the men following behind him.

Once outside he saw that already Snipe had returned with both factions of his Battalions. He looked angry and a little scared. He was also covered in blood.

"It was disgusting in there!" he shouted as soon as he was close enough to Dark Ace, "I slipped in a big pile of blood. There was just the head of a guy in there, I-" He paused, nausea overwhelming him for the moment. He bent over and gagged.

Several other soldiers did the same, as if taking the cue from their leader.

Dark Ace waited for them to have control over themselves before climbing to the top of the War Horse to address them all.

"Something or things has attacked this Terra," he announced, "whatever has caused this mayhem is no longer here. Best case scenario, they have gone to the Wastelands." He paused. "Worst case scenario, they have gone to another Terra."

There was muttering amongst the soldiers now, but Dark Ace pressed on, "I know many of you have families scattered about the various Terras of Cyclonia. Therefore you understand why I am sending you out to check all surrounding terras of our jurisdiction. You will stay in the groups you are currently in. You will all take your rides. Check every Terra, even the small unnamed ones. However, understand that this is a reconnaissance mission. You are not to engage anything in battle. I repeat- do not engage in battle! We have no idea what we're dealing with. If there are any survivors message the Pilot of the War Horse and they shall be placed in the Carrier- assuming there is enough space. Dismissed."

Once again the four groups were sent into different directions, all travelling within a hundred mile radius, which is as far as they could go without losing communication on their radios.

"He seriously doesn't want us to engage in battle," sneered Albdo to his sister, Blizzard. "After what those monsters have done to this place? He's insane!"

"He has no honour," added Fraust quietly.

"He isn't Cyclonian," answered Blizzard, "he doesn't have the connection to this place or the good guards that died here."

"Patriots died here," said the General suddenly, coming up from behind them. He looked furious, a storm cloud of a man. "Trust me, if me or my Team find these creatures, we'll wipe them out. Men put their lives on the line in this hell-hole to keep traitors and criminals under lock and key. I don't give a damn what that skinny whelp has to say, I'm gonna kill 'em."

The Talons all smiled and nodded. They respected the General far more than the likes of Sub-Commander Snipe or Commander Dark Ace.

The Commander could sense the resentment of the men; they were afraid and wanted to return home. However, his words had been true. This land all belonged to his Master, and he wasn't returning to her without knowing what was happening on her soil. Also, many soldiers in Cyclonia really did have family abroad. Even if the population could get over prison guards and prisoners, the idea that the army had left actual unarmed civilians to a terrible fate would stoke the fires of revolution. There was enough murmuring against his Master already; he would not add to her shame any more than he had already through losing to Aerrow so often.

As if predicting the General's plans of insubordination, he set off with General Guinea and his men first, who were travelling further south to the outskirts of the Empire. He knew the General hated him, but so did all the other generals. It hardly mattered.

However, he found himself separating from the team as soon as a small Terra came into view.

"Sir?" cried the General.

"I'll check out this one," Dark Ace called back, "its small enough for just me. You keep going until you reach larger land. I'll join you later."

The General nodded and led his men on without Dark Ace, happy to be rid of the Talon Commander.

The Terra was so little it didn't even come up on maps; however through his extensive knowledge of the Kingdom (which he never actually remembered learning- he just knew it) Dark Ace knew that it was home to around one hundred people in a reasonably large village.

As he landed his Ride, he saw the devastation had indeed reached this Terra also. Humble wooden houses were smashed apart. Parts of people lay dead and rotting in the streets. He gagged against smell, his eyes watering.

'Don't acknowledge the stench,' he told himself, regaining control and driving slowly through the land. There was a dip in the road ahead, so he got off his ride and walked instead, pulling it alongside him.

It didn't seem like anyone was alive. Most of the trees had been up rooted, walls smashed to pieces, and houses ravaged. Most of them had missing rooftops, which was especially odd. Whatever this monster was, it was large.

"Hello," he called out, aware that the enemy might be around, "Hello? Anyone still alive?"

There was a clatter, and he turned to see a small, sandy-coloured dog looking at him. Its red tongue was hanging out. It looked stupid.

Dark Ace stared at the dog. He wasn't one of those people that talks to animals. However, the creature, looking at him with an intelligence that belied his earlier opinion, turned and walked into a nearby house.

Dark Ace, against his usual instincts, followed it inside. The house, unlike so many others, was still reasonably intact. It was a humble but pleasant home. The interior was almost all made of a light wood. The light of the outside world shone through the window. It was a shame that the house was in disarray and that dead bodies littered the floor, as it was quite picturesque when you ignored those. It seems the dead consisted of a mother and father… what remains of a baby and possibly, going by the small arm in the corner, a young child.

The dog was whimpering at the wall. Dark Ace bent down and saw there was a sort of ventilation unit there. It made for a crawlspace that someone small could get into.

Getting on his hands and knees, Dark Ace looked in and there, as he predicted, was a small child curled up.

"Hey," called Dark Ace, "who are you? Come out."

The child turned and looked at him. Ace could make out one wide eye.

"Don't be scared," barked Dark Ace completely incapable of sounding kind or comforting, "Come out. I am the Dark Ace. You have heard of me? Of course. Then you know that no one disobeys me, come out. It's safe out here."

The child let out a low, whisper of a whimper. He was clearly terrified.

Dark Ace sighed, turning away and sitting with his back against the wall, the usual way wouldn't work here.

"Do you want to know a secret?" he asked at last, "you mustn't tell anyone this, understand? I have a soft spot for kids. Not all kids, just small ones, like you. I don't know why. This means," he looked back into the crawlspace, "that I won't hurt you. I won't leave you here either. So come out…Please."

Slowly the child obeyed. His movements were stiff as if he'd been in that uncomfortable position a long time.

"Good," muttered Dark Ace, putting in his arms and pulling the child out, "listen to me. Obey. Look at the badge on my chest. Just focus on that. Nothing else."

The child did obey, staring at the Cyclonian badge Dark Ace was wearing. Dark Ace held the boy, a thin thing with a mop of sandy blond hair, close. All around them was death and murder. He didn't need the boy seeing that. The last thing he needed was a hysterical child on his bike. They got back on board the Ride and the boy let out a whine.

"What?" complained Dark Ace before a bark answered him. Of course, the boy wanted his dog. Dark Ace sighed. He did not want a furry creature on his ride, however, in strange circumstances sometimes you had to do things you wouldn't normally. He whistled at the dog, which bounded over happily. He put the dog in the boy's lap and told him to hold on tight. As the ride lifted into the air, Dark Ace glanced down at the boy. His eyes, a dove grey, were blank. He was in shock. It would take time before he could explain anything. Dark Ace sighed and looked back down on the Terra- a sight there suddenly made his stomach clench in fear.

The dip on the road, before he'd just assumed it was a hole, but now, in the sky he could see it for what it really way; a giant footprint. And the footprint was human.

He got back to the War Horse half an hour later because he'd had to fly so slowly having the boy and a dog with him. Both were very still and silent. He imagined that this was why they were both still alive.

He landed on the Carrier. Men surrounded him in confusion. He put the dog on the ground but held the boy.

"Did you find anything?"

"No," said Snipe, "everyone was fine in the East and West. No one's seen or heard nothing. How about the south?"

"As you can see, things are not good down there." He held up the boy, "this is the only person I could find on Terra Shire. I did not check all the homes as I wanted to get the boy away from the carnage. He needs a doctor."

A female Soldier named Rain saluted Dark Ace before taking the limp boy away from him. Dark Ace looked at the child and almost felt something like pity; he always had a thing for little kids. He'd adored Cyclonis as a child. The dog followed Talon Rain and the boy, the boy watching the dog carefully.

"Where's General Guinea?" asked Dark Ace.

Snipe shrugged. "Not back yet."

"Have you tried their radios?"

"Either not working or out of range."

"And you didn't think to send a rescue mission? After what you saw at Terra Zartacla?"

Snipe shrugged, "you said it was a recon mission, not a rescue one."

"A recon mission where we lose a quarter of our men? Don't be an idiot! Get yourself ready, and ten other men, the best we have. We're going back out there and we are finding the General and the others. If we don't the Master will murder us both!"

xxXXxx

By the time the twelve were all ready, it was late midday. They had Blizzard and Albedo with them, as the siblings were such an asset. They also included Hail and Zephyr as well as some other key players from the Battalion.

The sun was blaring down upon them with unbearable heat. It made everyone feel itchy and uncomfortable. Uniforms weren't the best in this weather, especially the heavy kind Riders needed to wear for safety. It was the type of suffocating heat that promised a hell of a storm later.

"Keep your radios on," called Dark Ace, "we need to listen out for them!"

The brave few flew into the clear skies heading south. Dark Ace had revealed all he saw of the houses and state of the village, but neglected the part about the giant footprint. Part of him wasn't sure he had really seen such a thing, and besides, he knew it would sound stupid if he told them. They already considered him lower than them, he didn't need to add to it by throwing out crazy conspiracy theories.

Skin burning under the bright white ball of the sun they pressed onwards, passed the decimated Terra of Shire and further into the distance. They were soon at the closest Terra, one that was only fifty four miles away from the ship.

Before they even landed, they could hear the screams of dying Talons. Everyone got out their weapons ready. "Keep it subtle," hissed Dark Ace, "we don't join in a fight unless we really have to."

They dove down further towards the Terra. Like the previous village, they could see this small Mountaintop City had been completely ravaged. Buildings had been torn apart, roads ripped up, wildlife torn asunder and flung about. It was as if it had been hit by a hurricane.

The men landed their Skimmers, and hid behind a partially broken wall. There was a scream, and they saw a Talon running down the road towards them. It was Fraust. He hadn't seen them, so by all intent and purpose it looked as if he were running in pure panic. He was covered in blood and was holding his arm in a way that suggested it was broken.

The Talons tensed, they all knew that Fraust was not a fearful man. He was brave and had been in many battles. To see him screaming and running was…unnerving.

The floor began to shake slightly as suddenly, chasing after Fraust, appeared a huge humanoid creature. It was large, around six meters (19 foot) tall, it had an unusually large head and seemed ungainly like a toddler. It was completely naked, and didn't have any genitalia, though it seemed to be masculine. Its skin was a dirty colour, though generally seemed a Caucasian tone. Its hair was a shaggy mop of brown. It had a stupid grin on its face and blank eyes that focused solely on the screaming talon.

Beside him, Dark Ace felt one of the soldiers, a man named Alto, shifting as if to get up. Dark Ace put a hand on his shoulder, stilling him.

"That's my friend out there, Sir," hissed Alto, "I know him and his family. He's got kids!"

Dark Ace said nothing to him, and did not remove his hand.

Fraust, exhausted, fell down and looked up screaming harder than before. The Giant scooped him up with one hand, grinning the whole time. Fraust screamed and writhed in the hand, evidently in pain. The giant must have been crushing him. However, the Talon's pain did not last long. The Giant opened its mouth wide, spittle hanging off its yellowing square teeth.

The hearts of the twelve men hiding stopped as the creature put half of the Talon into its mouth and bit down; cutting Fraust in half and stopping his screams. He swallowed happily before throwing the bottom and legs of the man into his mouth, devouring the last of him.

It then began to slowly walk away towards the distant screams of other Talons. He was joined by another, slightly larger giant. Neither of them acknowledged one another, but zombie-like they walked towards the screams.

"Let's go," whispered Dark Ace.

The Talons were in shock.

"S-sir…" stuttered a wide eyed Snipe.

"Let's go!" He pulled at them, finally snapping them out of their shell shocked reverie. They leapt on their Rides and rode off quickly, not noticing the one Giant below looking up in their direction.

xxXXxx

As soon as they landed back on War Horse, Snipe took command, ordering the pilot to take them home immediately. Blizzard and Albedo took over controlling the other men from their small team, sending Alto and some others down to sick bay for Rain to check them out for shock.

Dark Ace ran over to where the maps were held in the mess room and began to mark out which Terras had been hit. It was clear that the…creatures…had come from the south and were working their way up north, heading further into Cylonian territory.

There were five Captains who worked under General Guinea. One had been with the General, so was probably dead, so he called over the others.

"There is an acute threat coming from the south," he told them. "They…it…it looks like they're giant man-eating humanoids…"

"What!" laughed one man, "you can't be serious!"

Dark Ace glowered, making the man shut up. "I am deadly serious Captain Redhawk. The good news is they appear to be very stupid and slow. The bad news is I have no idea how many there are, and they are deadly due to their size and single-mindedness. They also appear to be coming into the Empire. I need you to take a squad each and keep a watch on the three terras south east and south west of here. I am returning to Cyclonia to send down larger carriers so that we may evacuate. Things will go faster if I have you guys getting the people ready now, so as soon as carriers arrive people can get on right away. Likewise, some of you should act as watchmen. Radio War Horse as soon as you see the monsters. Understood?"

The Captains saluted.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Day One: Midday**

Master Cyclonia watched The War Horse make its arrival at her largest dock. Of the five hundred plus men she'd sent out this morning, only fifty soldiers got off.

Snipe and Dark Ace were last, both of them looking grim.

"What's happened?" she demanded of Dark Ace immediately. "Storm Hawks?" It wasn't rare that after another humiliating defeat at the hands of Sky Knights, an enraged Dark Ace would leave almost all his talons behind in spiteful revenge of their lack of skills.

"No Master. Something else. A new threat. I had to place Captains and the remaining soldiers at different southern terras to ready them for evacuation."

"Evacuation?! And where exactly are these evacuees to go?"

"Here, Master…"

Master Cyclonis felt rage and fear bubbling inside her, "are you stupid?" she hissed. It was annoying how her once most trusted and competent Commander was now letting her down on a daily basis. "There isn't enough food. There isn't enough space. Thanks to the Sky Knights and your failure, we haven't been able attain more terra or resources in months! The population is out of control, my god Dark Ace!"

"I wouldn't have done it unless necessary," he argued, trying to remain respectful but struggling. "The threat is real. If soldiers here think we abandoned their families to certain death then an uprising is sure to happen."

Cyclonis forced herself to calm down. "Is the threat so dangerous?"

"I can confirm one man dead, one hundred and twenty five are missing in action- including General Guinea. It appears the entire populations of Zartacla and Terra Shire is M.I.A. as well. With the exception of one small child I found hiding on Terra Shire, all that was left of the people there were body parts and copious amounts of spilt blood. Trees and roads were ripped up, buildings were battered in and turned to rubble."

She glanced away before looking back with dark eyes, "what did it?"

"It's… they appear to be giants. They're some sort of huge humanoids. Only they were somewhat deformed and ungainly." He paused, "but the worst and most bizarre part is that they…they ate an officer. Myself, Snipe and ten of our men all witnessed the creatures ourselves."

She nodded, "very well, but we still need to avoid evacuation. It needs to be a last resort." She looked at him, "we don't have the resources to house so many people in this terra. Hereby order you to eliminate the threat at all costs. Evacuation is absolutely, absolutely a last resort. Do you understand Commander?"

He nodded. He understood.

"In the meantime I will work on finding out what these things are and why they are attacking us," she said darkly. She looked at him, "all you need to do is kill. You can still do that much, right?"

"Of course Master," he answered immediately, the old wound of her lost faith biting at him again.

"You say there was a child survivor?"

"Yes Master. He is with Medic Rain."

"Interesting. I shall take my leave. Don't mess this up."

Dark Ace saluted her as she turned away, leaving him alone with the difficulty of preparing for war.

xxXXxx

Five evacuation carriers were almost ready.

"Sub-Commander Chicken Feather-"

"I actually prefer to be called-"

"You will be in charge of the Evacuation," continued Dark Ace, marching with the Sub-Commander next to him.

Sub-Commander Chicken Feather sighed, "yes sir…"

"You will have three generals under you, each general overseeing each Terra. Beneath them are two captains each. You'll have one hundred men on each terra, and fifty watchmen. Make sure there is enough space on the carriers for civilians; don't let them pack too much. You'll only have Rookies on the ground, so make sure they do not get overwhelmed."

"Just Rookies?! But if we're attacked-!"

"But you will have more experienced Talons as your Watchmen."

"Thank goddess! So, are we really up against giants, 'cause that's the rumour and-"

"Get to your ship Sub-Commander," interrupted Dark Ace, staring resolutely ahead, "hopefully you shall see no action today. The plan is for me and my team to annihilate the threat before it can even reach the terras. You evacuating everyone is a last resort. However, I need everyone ready. If things do go wrong we won't have time to wait around. Understand Commander?"

"Yes Sir," the cowardly Sub-Commander saluted then scuttled away. Dark Ace was infuriating to converse with, namely because he didn't converse, he just talked at people.

"I'm telling you sis it was messed up," Snipe said the Ravess, who was polishing her weapon. He still had goosebumps from hearing the screams of Fraust before he was killed. "You could hear the bones crunching…it was horrible."

"You're just a big baby," Ravess sneered, "we've battled many man-eating beasts before now, and survived."

"This was different," he argued, "it was really awful…they look kind of like us…"

They stood to attention when Dark Ace appeared in front of them.

"Are the Destroyers ready?"

"Yes Sir."

"Then it's time to leave. Ready your men."

As they ran to do his bidding, he turned his attention to the tall, slim figure of Talon Alto who was loitering around alone, waiting instruction.

"Talon Alto, correct?" he walked over to the talon, who saluted without enthusiasm. Dark Ace could see the resentment the man held for him in his eyes.

"I've just contacted the family of Fraust sir," he said, though Dark Ace hadn't asked, "I wanted them to find out about his death sooner rather than later. She -his wife- asked for a body to be buried. I told her that we couldn't, that he was gone. She cried."

"Get your revenge now," said Dark Ace. "I cannot bring your friend back and I am not sorry I stopped you from saving him. You wouldn't have been able to anyway and you would have given away our position. But I want you and the others from that small recon team to come with me on this next mission., You know what we're up against, and this, as I say, gives you your chance for vengeance."

Alto agreed and saluted as a good soldier should, but as Dark Ace walked away, he wondered if he should have just told his Commander the truth; he didn't want revenge, he just wanted his friend back.

xxXXxx

Approximately twenty minutes later, Dark Ace climbed onto his Skimmer. He would be with the rest of his men, on his Ride and without the safety of a Destroyer. He would lead the charge. Immediately to either side were the ten talons from before. Around them were two thousand general talons. Behind the two thousand were two Destroyers, one manned by Snipe, one by Ravess. Behind the Destroyers were three large evacuation carriers.

Dark Ace put up his arm, steadying them all. The gates opened, and the afternoon sky greeted them. It was turning dark and grey.

Dark Ace dropped his arm and there was a loud, angry hum of thousands of engines.

He stepped on the accelerator and away he went at full speed, all the people behind him following his lead. There was the stomach-churning thrill of falling, just for a moment when the Rides first drove off the metal panel, but the wings opened automatically and soon he was soaring through the sky.

Dark Ace allowed himself a small smile. He could do this. He was the Dark Ace, and no one could beat him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Day One: The Stormy Afternoon**

The cloud was thick, heavy and wet. There was to be a storm later, no doubt. A big one too, by the looks of things. No matter, he could handle a storm.

All the drivers put on their lights so that they became visible. It was ethereal, even beautiful; an array of red and green lights glowing in the grey fog.

After twenty minutes of driving in unison, the evacuation carriers fell away, each going to their destinations.

Dark Ace and the others continued into darker territory. The wind was picking up slightly and the fog was not abating. It wasn't raining, but there was a wetness in the mist, similar to the spray of an ocean wave. Landing in such circumstances was dangerous, so Dark Ace wheeled around, working out how far he was from land when suddenly a large hand came out of the clouds and swiped at the Skimmer. In that split second he managed to move out of the way quickly, letting out a small cry at the same time. It was then that It appeared.

Out of the steamy clouds appeared a gigantic human. It had no skin but was all bone and muscle tissue. Its teeth were square and large and on show as it was lipless. It was like a giant corpse, only its eyes, (minus any lids) were very much alive and alert.

There was a second that seemed to stretch out for eternity. Everything slowed down almost to a halt whilst the Being and Dark Ace stared at one another. It was in that moment, with the thing looking at him, that Dark Ace realised that this creature was intelligent. It was this knowledge that caused an icy grip of fear in his heart.

As always, this was followed by a deep burning anger.

The Being looked away and began to swipe at the other Talons, hitting them with one hand he smashed them into the buildings and onto the ground, instantly killing dozens at a time. The Talons immediately retreated, but with the bravery of a Sky Knight Dark Ace flew straight at it with a roar. Alighting his weapon he aimed for the eyes. The Creature saw him just in time and went to bite him- its mouth being big enough to swallow him whole- but he swerved out of the way, hitting onto the creatures shoulder in the process. His wings retracting, he drove down the shoulder, swiping at the ligaments there, disabling the Creature's arm.

In her battleship, Ravess watched in shock at the large Humanoid attacking her people. She was sitting on a seat just behind the Pilot Carrier.

"Q-quick!" she commanded, "ready the canons! Aim for its head!"

The Being now had grabbed Dark Ace, complete with his Ride, with its spare hand. It raised its arm high and, at full force, flung the unfortunate Talon Commander up into the cloudy ether. Dark Ace was flung away as if he were nothing more than a piece of rubbish.

Ravess heard her soldiers gasping in horror. Was there any way to survive that? There was no time to worry.

"Pay no mind to him!" she shouted, "just prepare yourselves, aim the canons!"

As if it had heard her, the Being turned and looked at the Destroyer, before reaching out for it. Steam was coming from where Dark Ace had struck it on the shoulder, and she could see the slashes were healing themselves. Soon it would be able to use both arms again.

"Hold on!" she cried as the Creature grabbed the Destroyer and threw it down towards the ground. Everyone screamed, a number of people flying up into the air from the sudden force. She grit her teeth and persevered as the ship was flung downwards.

"Turn on the launch pads!" she managed to scream out, her captain obeying her with impressive speed. The launch pad engines were ignited, slowing their fall to a halt and steadying them again. Soldiers fell back to the ground, gravity having a greater affect than the up-thrust. They were closer to the ground now, and the ruins of the city were visible through the misty haze.

"Quick, move!" she screamed, as they saw the foot of the Creature now heading towards them in a kick. They swerved, but the ship was too large to move quickly. The foot of the creature landed hard against the left side of the ship, sending it hurtling into the terra beneath them.

The ship span as it careened out of control throwing the unfortunate inhabitants around and causing a number of soldiers to vomit out of nausea and fear. "Hold on!" Ravess found herself screaming in a high pitch unlike her own usual tone as she gripped the sides of her chair, "hold on!"

The Destroyer landed on the ground hard, smashing against paved floor and slamming into houses. A number of soldiers were killed on impact. Blood smattered around the Destroyer. The windows of the Destroyer, despite being reinforced, now smashed open, letting in flying bits of rubble. A few bricks hit different soldiers, injuring many and killing several of them. Anyone in the lower decks was unfortunately crushed to death; a gruesome but mercifully quick death.

The ship finally came to a halt. Ravess opened her eyes. Her head ached and she could feel blood dripping down her face. Around her were her soldiers, most motionless but some trying to stand.

Before she could even think of an order, or even words of encouragement, the ship shuddered and creaked. She looked up at the ceiling; it was beginning to cave in.

"Quick," she said, her voice quiet as she couldn't yell. Her lungs hurt, and she had a feeling she'd cracked one or more ribs. "We need to get out of here!"

From his own Destroyer, Snipe watched as within minutes his sister's ship was flung to the ground, kicked like a football and now the bastard was stepping on it.

His sister would be crushed to death.

"NO!" he screamed. Only one person picked on his sister, and that was him!

"Ready the cannons!" he shrieked, "Aim, fire!"

The canons shot out and hit the creature's neck, causing it to turn and stare at them resentfully. Its foot remained on the ship.

"Aim for its eyes!" cried Snipe, remembering where Dark Ace had been aiming earlier. "Then shoot the tendons on its ankle!"

The canons shot out, making a bloody mess of one of the Being's eyes. It turned away in time to avoid the other being hurt. Steam erupted from the socket and they could see the material inside sewing itself back together; it was healing.

Snipe grimaced, "this thing is disgusting…aim for the tendons, quick!"

But it was too late. Both arms were now healed and the Being grabbed Snipe's larger destroyer with both hands. Talons cried out as the ship shuddered. The Pilot desperately tried to break away, but it was stuck in the Giant's grip.

The monster raised the Destroyer above its head, tipping everyone upside down.

"Steady yourselves," called Snipe, feeling panic in himself despite shouting out orders. "Get ready, get-!"

Like Ravess's ship they were flung to the ground with a horrible amount of force. Unlike her ship, this crash was more brutal. They landed face down, the front window smashing in and almost everyone being killed, if not by the force then by the crash.

Watching the devastation, the Being then lifted its foot off Ravess's destroyer before slamming it down hard, smashing the ship. Ravess, who had been half way out of the ship, screamed in pain as the front beam by the largest window bore down upon her, trapping her.

Then, as mysteriously as it appeared, it then vanished into the mist once more.

xxXXxx

Meanwhile, further away on the Terra, Dark Ace was wincing in pain and trying to start his Ride. Most people would have been crushed by the force of being thrown so hard, but luckily Dark Ace had once been a Sky Knight and many of them were trained to handle strong forces; it was the way they survived being caught in super-storms.

Burt that wasn't to say he was alright. He was sore all over, and several muscles were screaming in agony. His head was bleeding heavily. He hadn't broken anything, but he was certain he had whiplash. The creature had thrown him at least three miles away, which was a frightening prospect and showed how strong it was.

He felt bitter. This was exactly why he had prevented anyone from going into battle before now. It was stupid to go in and fight something when a) it wasn't necessary yet and b) you had no idea what you were fighting. They should have waited and seen what these things were. Maybe captured one or two and experimented on them. To go in half-cocked was idiotic, but he knew that he had only been forced on this hopeless venture because Cyclonis was under pressure from the Senate.

His gut was telling him to retreat, but he couldn't face her after all the times he failed against the Sky Knights. To come home, beaten and battered, once again was too much to endure. Doing his best to ignore the pain and began to look into what the problem was with his Skimmer. One of the tyres was torn, so that would need sorting, and it seemed something was damaged in the engine.

He dealt with the tyre first, pumping it back up and then using a special glue that fixed it together temporarily. This type of glue generally lasted about five hours, so he'd need to be aware of the time. Then he checked the engine, it seemed the crystal powering it was cracked. He scowled. There was nothing that could fix a crystal other than Nil Crystal, and the only person who had that was Cyclonis. However, there were a number of fuel crystals back on the Destroyers, so he'd just have to make do and get back to base. Slathering the glue on the crystal, temporarily fixing the crack, he put it back in and felt the engine sputtering.

Simultaneously, he began to feel the floor shaking. What was going on? It was like something heavy was hitting the ground in the distance. He kicked off on the Ride and was steadily rising at a slower pace than usual when the source of the trembling ground made itself known.

It was the stupid grin and glassy eyes that he saw first.

"Damn it," he cursed just as the giant swiped at him in an effort to grab him. He flew away, but couldn't seem to get the Ride going any higher. The giant lumbered after him, and another soon joined him. Great, two of the bastards right on his tail!

He wasn't getting enough speed. The two were slow compared to the massive giant he'd battled against earlier, but they were persistent. Dark Ace turned sharply around one corner, the two giants followed him, both stumbling and crashing into the buildings besides the road as they did. He smirked, goddess these things were stupid!

His smug expression didn't last long. From behind a house in front of him stepped out another Being, this one being even taller than the others. It was at least ten meters high.

"Damn it!" he cried, forcing the Ride onto the ground suddenly. It transformed into a bike quickly and he drove between the monster's wide legs. It kicked at him but he swerved just in time to avoid its foot.

Heart racing Dark Ace saw another four creatures ahead of him, noticing him thanks to all the noise, they turned and began to head towards him. He turned his Ride quickly, turning down a side street. As the crystal began to fail he could see his speed was slowing. He wasn't going fast enough to get the leverage to pull himself into the air.

He came out of the side street and found himself back on a main road; all seven humanoids were behind him, their mouths salivating. He drove down the road before spinning and smashing into the closest house. He crashed into a kitchen counter and felt several things from the ceiling and shelves land on him.

He grunted in pain and anger.

His ride was done in. He needed a crystal desperately. His body hurt badly, and he was certain he needed medical care. He spat out, tasting blood in his mouth. His lungs were burning. Limping off the skimmer he looked around the house. Everything was shaking and he knew those things were marching around outside. He needed to move quickly. Fuel crystals were used for anything. This family probably used one to power the electrical items in their home.

He began to search in cupboards or any place where things like water tanks and electric stations were held.

There was a loud crushing sound, and suddenly the roof disappeared above him, letting in the fog and misty rain. He yelped and dove out of the way of falling rubble. It was the second largest giant to date. This one was a good seventeen meters high and had lifted the roof off easily. It put its hands in the house and began feeling around, no doubt looking for Dark Ace.

The Commander dropped down onto the ground and began to crawl amongst the rubble. He crept into the hallway and saw a door by the stairs.

'That must lead to a basement.' He was loathe to leave behind his Sky Ride, but had no choice if he wanted to live. Inching through carefully, pausing for a moment as giant, filthy fingers scrapped passed him, he made it to the door and tore it open. He ran down the small, concrete steps. The basement was large and dark. A small rectangular window let in some light. The room was decorated. It obviously belonged to some adolescent. He saw picture on the wall. It was of a dark-skinned family. They were all smiling and looked happy. They were probably all dead now.

He looked around until at last he saw a small metal box in the bottom corner of the room. Cracking it open he saw two small Fuel Crystals. They weren't much, probably only used for lighting the bedroom, but they would be enough to get him to the Destroyers, assuming his Ride wasn't completely ruined.

He sat on the bed of the teenager. He or she was probably no older than the Storm Hawks. He'd even killed some people of their age. He didn't feel remorse. He didn't really feel anything. He held the crystals in his hand and listened to the monsters above him. There was no point leaving while they were still there, he was too out-numbered and too injured to fight back properly.

He wondered if they could smell him, or if they would assume he was dead or had escaped and would leave him alone. He hoped for the latter.

In the distance he could hear canon fire and deep crashes. How were the others? Were they making it against that giant? Had his injuring its arm been enough?

He looked around and saw a book on the floor. It was of ancient mythology. On the front cover was a picture of a one-eyed giant swallowing a man. He opened it on a whim and felt his heart leap into his throat when he came across a page on giants. Seems in very ancient times, people had believed that Titans, a race of flesh-eating giants, had climbed out of the wastelands and made war against mankind. It had taken the sky goddesses Ashera to kill the Titans and banish them to the Wastelands.

He tore the pages out of the book and shoved them into his top. The noise above had died down, so he could only assume the Titans had left.

He carefully climbed up the stairs and inched open the door. Most of the stairwell had now been destroyed also, but the basement had not been found. Stepping out, he saw it was now raining properly. His Sky Ride was under a lot of mess, so he ran over and pulled the rubbish off it. In the distance he could see the Titans milling about aimlessly.

Working quietly he double-checked the wheel of his bike before replacing the broken Crystal with the two smaller ones. He pushed his Ride away from the house and once on a road, leapt on it and kick started it. The roar rang out and Titans were alerted to his presence. Stepping down hard, he shot into the distance, picking up speed quickly. A titan leapt out on him. He couldn't swerve because he needed to get up traction, so, in a daring move, he stayed the course and ended up driving straight up its leg.

The titan bellowed like a surprised child, before Dark Ace let out the wings and shot off the thigh and into the air. The titan jumped forwards to grab him, but like a gnat Dark Ace slipped out of the titan's reach. The titan landed on the ground with a heavy thud and Dark Ace made his escape.

The others were running after him now, as many as twenty but he was going much faster. He zig-zagged through the town, steadily losing more of them before flying high into the air and vanishing into the clouds.

He pushed his Sky Ride at full speed and checked it on the dial; 70 miles per hour was the most he was able to go at. He gritted his teeth, it still wasn't fast enough to be ideal, but he could still out-run the titans now. As he flew higher he vanished into the clouds, losing the titans for now. He flew generally in the correct direction, keeping in the clouds, until at last he began to descend.

As he got closer to the spot where the Destroyers were, he could smell burning and acrid smoke stung his eyes. This was not good. He came to his original landing spot and saw the two cylonian destroyers floored. The Huge Titan was nowhere to be seen. He landed his Ride and ran over to the largest ship. Many Talons lay bloody and motionless on the ground. A few talons were fixing up Skimmers. Some were sitting on the ground, shaking from fear. Some were fixing the injuries of their friends. Many were looking at fallen comrades in misery and shock. They're entire lives spent in the military, it wasn't rare for friendships and lovers to spring up amongst the talons. Many had lost people who they were deeply connected with today.

The Cyclonians battled a lot, but generally the death toll in warfare was low. Today had been a huge blow to them all.

Dark Ace fell to his knees and looked inside the Destroyer. He could see Snipe slowly dragging himself out of it. He looked pale and battered.

"Still with us Mr. Snipe?" called Dark Ace.

"Go check Ravess!" was the bitter reply.

Dark Ace looked over to the next Destroyer. He wasn't the kind to take orders from anyone aside from the Master, however he obeyed Snipe's request. Now wasn't the time to argue over rank.

He ran painfully to where she was and saw her. She was alive, but trapped under her ship, which looked almost completely flattened. Blood was everywhere. He doubted anyone was still alive in there. Blood was everywhere and the area stank of death. The talons were avoiding this area, though he saw Zephyr, Stratus and Albedo, amongst others, trying to lift the ship.

He knelt by her side. Her lip was shaking from shock and pain. "I-I've broken my legs," she stuttered, "I can't feel my lower half. I-I need m-medical assis-assistance…" She reached out and touched him with a cold hand. "Wh-where is S-Snipe?"

"Your brother is alive but hurt," he said, "he's coming."

"Y-you're still alive," she whispered, coughing slightly.

"Of course."

She let out a small laugh at his reply before weakly repeating, "of course…"

"I shall send you both home immediately." Dark Ace found himself saying, "you're no good here. Tell Master we need to retreat. Tell her evacuation is necessary."

"You are staying here?"

"I have to."

She coughed, more blood coming up from her mouth. It was strange, even surrounded by gore, bleeding and coughing up blood, she still was strangely pretty. Dark Ace placed his hand awkwardly on her arm in…comfort? The Talons around her stopped trying to lift the ship, they were exhausted and it was becoming clear that there was no hope.

"We're all going to die if we stay here." She whispered, "You need to go. I ordered the few survivors of my Destroyer to hide. Find them and take them home. Take my stupid brother also."

"Who're you calling stupid?"

Dark Ace looked up to see Snipe stalking up to them. He was injured but hiding it well. Dark Ace could almost respect that.

Snipe looked at the section of the ship crushing down on his sister and began to put his hands under it, preparing to heave it up.

"Snipe," she muttered, "Snipe don't…it's too late."

He ignored her and began to slowly lift the beam.

"I won't be able to walk if you do get it up."

"Then I'll carry you!" he yelled, "Just be quiet and let me pick this thing up!"

The ground began to quake. Dark Ace looked up and saw the shadows of titans coming towards them.

"They're here," he said. He tensed. He and the other talons were still not recovered from the first attack. Snipe ignored them and Ravess looked frantic.

"Go, Snipe you need to go!"

"Shut up!" barked her brother.

"She's right," said Dark Ace, "even if you lift that thing, the shock will probably kill her."

"Shut up!"

He sighed. There was no getting through to Snipe.

"What do we do Sir?" asked one female Talon, a pretty girl named Robyn.

"We fight," he answered tiredly, "we have to. I'll get reinforcements."

He got on his radio and called out for the others.

"This is Commander Dark Ace calling all of the survivors from Commander Ravess' unit. If any of you value your lives you will get back to your stations now!" He waited a while but heard nothing. The shadows become solid as the titans began to emerge from the mist. Already Robyn, Zephyr, Stratus and Albedo were on their Rides and leading the charge against the Titans. If they survived, he would have to recommend them for promotion.

'The Titans either have excellent hearing or they can smell us,' realised Dark Ace. He put the radio back to his mouth. "Who are you more afraid of: Me or the titans? Get back here now!"

He looked over at Snipe, "We'll hold them off while we can."

He then revved the engine and hurtled towards the first titan. He knew enough about them now to have some confidence. They were powerful due to their size, but slow.

Powering up his blade he sliced off an arm of the first titan. He could see the others were doing the same- aiming for eyes and ligaments. The titan barely reacted, as if it felt no pain. Dark Ace continued on, blinding the titan behind the first by slashing its face quickly. Finally, the third behind he decided to kill. Holding his blade out like it was a joust, he flew directly into the titan's chest, piercing its heart. He paused for a second and realised there was no blood, no had there been with the other victims. He frowned just as the titan grabbed him suddenly.

"Why aren't you dead?!" he shrieked as he found himself being put towards the creature's mouth. Holding blade aloft, he sliced its mouth. Whether in shock or pain, he did not know, the titan let him go. He used that moment to hack off the rest of its bottom jaw quickly. The jaw fell to the ground and its tongue and drool hung from its mouth obscenely. The titan looked at him blankly, its face still vacant of pain or annoyance.

To his immense relief he saw other Talons now coming out of the shadows. They too began to attack the titans, hacking off limbs and body parts. All it seemed to do was slow them down. None of them were dying. Steam erupted from the injuries and began sewing the cuts back together. Even the one that lost its jaw seemed to be developing a new one out of steam.

The rain was coming down now. It was clearing the mist a little, but driving conditions were even more difficult than usual. The wind too was knocking them around.

There was a scream to his left. Dark Ace saw a female talon screaming in terror in the hand of a titan. He knew this woman, she usually served with Ravess because she was talented at the cello. She had a bird's name- but he couldn't remember what. He flew towards her, getting out his blade. He didn't particularly care for his fellow talons, but they needed as many alive as possible. The death count was already too high.

He slashed one of the fingers off, hoping the pain would cause the titan to let go, but as before the creature barely noticed it.

"Sir!" screamed, the girl, "please help- ahhhhhh!"

The titan tipped her in his mouth, she lay on his tongue screaming for a second before the jaws crashed together. Blood sprayed from its mouth. The girl's screams had stopped.

The titan chewed twice before swallowing. It then aimed to grab Dark Ace but there was a loud, "nooo!"

Dark Ace moved his slow Ride out of the way as the titan was distracted by another talon, a young man, flying towards it. Dark Ace saw tears on the boy's face.

"Sparrow!" screamed the boy, "Sparrow! No!"

He had been so focused on the titan in front of him, he missed the one that came from the side. It grabbed him and threw him into its mouth before he even fully registered what had happened. There was more sounds of human bones crunching as the boy was eaten.

Dark Ace watched in sickened horror. This was why…this was why it was no good getting attached.

There was a cry to his left, and he saw Albedo being torn in half by two titans pulling on each side of his body. Hey then ate each section of him.

Blizzard, his sister, let out a roar of pain and rage. She flew towards the titan and began hacking at its face and neck. It just watched her in amusement, trying to grab her like a small child tries to grab keys dangling in front of it. He joined her, flying round the back of the titan and stabbing it in the head hoping that perhaps if they damaged the brain it would kill them. Alas, the hateful healing steam came from the head, fixing it at once.

"Damn it die!" she yelled, "die!"

Beside them, talon Robyn was hit by a titan and landed hard on the floor. It picked her up by her head, crushing it before putting her limp body in its mouth.

Pressure began to build in his mind…this was too much!

They were being wiped out.

Dark Ace flew his ride up to the highest building to survey the situation. There were five titans in their area, and more were coming from all over the terra. They all varied in size but 19 foot was the smallest. If the first giant titan reappeared they'd be properly doomed.

It was clear what needed to happen.

Alto landed beside him. "They're unstoppable Sir!" he screamed.

Dark Ace turned to her "get sub-commander Snipe and get out of here! This is a retreat- we've no choice!"

"What about Sub-commander Ravess sir?"

"If they haven't gotten that ship off her yet she'll have to be left behind, same for anyone else unable to fight or walk. Get back to the other terras where the evacuations are taking place."

"Sir!" He flew her Ride down the side of the building before flying into the sky and narrowly avoiding a titan swiping against him.

'I need to learn how to kill one of these things!' he thought desperately. They were all nearly healed already, and it had been minutes since his initial attack. 'This can't continue! What else is essential? I've tried the heart and the head! Perhaps.… perhaps the neck… Maybe if they are headless…'

He looked at his Skimmer. It was slow, but he'd just have to be nimble.

He looked out into the horizon. Most of the talons had obeyed his order of retreat and had left. A few were trying to pull Snipe away from the fallen Destroyer. Below him seven talons were still fighting the talons, swiping at their vital organs. The Cyclonian army may not be competent, being full of kids and conscripted soldiers would do that to an army, but let it never be said that they were cowards.

He set off the building and flew into the fracas. His blade wasn't long enough to cut through a titan's neck completely, but choosing the taller (and slimmer) one he began to hack, first at its throat. Steam immediately began to hiss from the wound. He then tried the left side, before swinging round to the nape and slicing deeply there. The creature immediately fell to the ground, to everyone's shock. Dark Ace watched for a moment before sweeping down for a closer look. The titan was not emitting any steam from its injury. Its eyes were open but unseeing. It was dead.

Triumph in his heart and hope rising like a phoenix, he screamed at the others, "the nape! Cut the nape! It kills them!"

There was a unified, "Sir!" before the talons began to obey him, slicing the napes of their opponents. Blizzard, who had tears on her hard face, sliced at the titan she'd been battling. It fell to the floor as its nape was torn open. She watched its death-roes from her ride in the air.

'That's for my brother,' she thought bitterly.

Getting to the napes was hard, as there were a pair of giant hands and a large mouth you had to pass before you got there. Out of the seven talons who stayed with Dark Ace, only two made it out alive by the time all five titans were dead.

However, at last count twenty eight more titans were making their way towards them.

Now they had to retreat!

Ordering the two survivors away, he flew down to where Snipe was. Snipe was now alone, the talons around him either killed or retreating.

"Come on!" he bellowed, losing patience, "we need to go now!"

Snipe was frothing at the mouth and wide eyed. "I can get her out!" he screamed.

Ravess, by some cruel fate of god, was still alive. She looked at Dark Ace helplessly. He clenched his jaw, understanding her silent plea. He grabbed Snipe and began to drag him away.

"No! Ravess! Ravess!"

Normally Dark Ace would never be able to drag a heavy weight like Snipe anywhere, but Snipe had exhausted himself trying to move an entire ship on his own.

Ravess, her body numb and cold, watched Dark Ace wrestling her brother towards the Rides. She felt tears in her eyes.

"Don't go," she whispered, ashamed of her words, "I'm scared…I'm scared…"

She remembered when she was a girl. Back then she'd been a bit of a weakling. She was scared of just about everything. Their mother had died in an attack from outside forces and she had developed severe anxiety and the beginnings of OCD. She must have been…oh eight or nine years old. A group of boys from the Academy had her cornered. They were laughing at her, mocking her for being a 'perfectionist' as her OCD meant she was compelled to repeat certain actions. They were stupid kids, and didn't realise that she was unwell and in shock, that her doing the same exercise over and over wasn't her showing off, but her coping method. Her little brother, out of nowhere came hurtling towards them. Despite only being around seven, he' beaten those boys within an inch of their lives. It's how it was between them. They didn't like each other, but they did love one another.

Ravess could never have predicted that she would die like this- alone and terrified. She watched her brother and wished he could have stayed. The ground beneath her was shaking, and she felt a great weight being lifted from her.

She whimpered, tears falling. Why couldn't she be braver in her final minutes? Why?

A titan, grinning, had lifted the ship off her.

"No," whispered Snipe, watching from afar but realising how helpless he was.

She was lifted up by the titan. It was taller and slimmer than most of the other titans. Its limbs were too long, and it still looked deformed. It was lazy eyed and had long shaggy brown hair. Its lips were very red and it grinned stupidly. It looked at her for some time, which seemed obscene in itself, before she began to suddenly scream. It was crushing her.

"Look away," Snipe heard Dark Ace mutter beside him, "just look away Mr. Snipe."

But he couldn't. He couldn't even move, out of fear and exhaustion, as his sister was crushed to death by that abomination. Blood sprayed from her mouth and nose. Her eyes probably exploded too, before the titan swallowed her whole. A gruesome death. An underserved death.

Snipe slumped against Dark Ace, making the commander grunt in pain. Snipe didn't care…he just…he'd just witnessed the worst thing he'd ever seen in his life…he couldn't even…comprehend…

He was being pulled on to a Ride. He heard the engine. He felt the wind in his hair. He leaned forward and threw up. He didn't cry though. He just…he just couldn't. It was like there was white noise in his brain. Images of his sister flashed through his mind. The arguments; the laughter; the bickering; the fleeting moments of kindness; Her crying after their mom died; His beating the crap out of her bullies; Them fighting furiously over the last bit of chocolate in the cupboard; Them competing all the time at the Academy; His secret pride of her talent; Her playing the violin at their dad's funeral; Him beating on all her boyfriends, because no one was ever good enough for her.

She was gone. The girl he knew and the woman she became…all gone.

She was gone and he was alive. How… how was that even possible? He was the idiot. If anyone should have died, it should have been him.

"It should have been me," Dark Ace heard Snipe muttering to himself, "it should have been me…"


	5. Chapter 5

**Day One: Evening**

The rain soaked through their leather and metal plates. It dampened their skin, making them itchy and sore. The hum of engines was gentle now, not the roar of two battalions, but the buzz of a few sore survivors.

Once they were about five miles away from the previous terra, Dark Ace ordered them to settle onto the ground. There was a small landmass beneath them on which they landed. Once, it had home three small houses. Now it was empty; the Cyclonians had destroyed the houses and the people who had lived there had been imprisoned in Zartcala for refusing to join Cyclonia. They were most likely dead now, killed by the drudging cruelty of the prison, or by the rampaging Titans.

It was appropriately moody and desolate, small, with blades of grey wet grass blowing in the harsh wind. Dark Ace ordered them to land partially to give them all a break from driving. Everyone was injured and exhausted, and the winds of the storm were not helping. He didn't want anyone dying from exhaustion on the way home; they'd lost too many Talons today already.

"Divide yourselves into groups of one hundred," he commanded, "then we will begin fixing what we can of our rides."

Everyone obeyed quietly, too tired and shocked to talk. Out of the two thousand he'd left with just a few hours ago, Dark Ace now counted only four hundred and thirty-eight soldiers. Over fifteen hundred had died within one afternoon. He let out a breath, this was the worst defeat in Cyclonian history.

He put his hand to his head, closing his eyes for a second. He still had not recovered from earlier in the day, and his head injury was still giving him a lot of pain. Medic Rain had only enough time to wrap a bandage around his wounds before he set off again, arranging things for this battle.

He allowed the pressure and stress to build and build and then…released it.

A strange, unnatural calm came back over him and he opened his eyes. He moved his hand away from his head and stood up straight, willing away all pain and weakness.

His soldiers worked together, sharing Skimmer glue to hold their bikes together just a little longer.

He put on his radio and barked out, "Blizzard, Mr. Snipe, Zephyr, Alto, Hail, Stratus, all come to me at once."

The Talons obeyed, coming to his side in a moment. Snipe looked pale and was standing close to Blizzard. Dark Ace wondered if they were silently bonding over both having lost a sibling today.

He was pleased to see Hail and Zephyr looking grim but calm.

"We have a twenty-minute break here before moving on," he said, "those things move quickly and are heading into the realms of Cyclonia. From now on, you are to remain with me. You are the most knowledgeable about these creatures. You will be acting as Captains, under me and Mr. Snipe."

"Excuse me Sir," began Blizzard, her voice low and her eyes a dark blue, "are we not returning to the Key Terra of Cyclonia? Are we not in retreat?"

"We retreated from that battle Ms. Blizzard," stated Dark Ace coldly, "but not the war. You are used to the efficiency of the _War Horse_ Talons, but most of our talons," he gestured out the survivors beyond them, the kids fixing their skimmers and trying to hide their terrified tears, "are just young adults and adolescents who just barely learned to ride their own skimmers. The main city is a little over forty miles away. They won't survive the journey, even if their Rides do. We need to go to the nearest Terras. They are already primed for evacuation. The civilians should be evacuated by now. With reinforcements based already at the three terras we will stand and fight. We cannot let the titans get to Central Cyclonia."

"Titans sir?" asked Zephyr.

Dark Ace halted for a moment, not realizing the name had slipped out. "It's just something I read once," he muttered, "monsters, in myth, who were once angry gods and rose up to eat the innocent. It's nonsense. But the name is as good as any.

"Go, see to your Talons. Arrange for there to be approximately eighty-nine between each of you. Get Rides and injuries as patched up as possible. The storm is relenting a little, so we will go in approximately fifteen minutes. Go, and congratulations on your promotions."

The Talon Captains saluted, first to Dark Ace then Snipe, before walking painfully back to their troops. Dark Ace mentally decided to give them all around twenty-five minutes. Everyone needed rest, including himself.

Alone now, he turned to his one companion. "How are you holding up Mr. Snipe?"

The broad Talon Commander was staring out into the foggy distance, as if searching the sky-scape for Titans.

He smirked without humour, "I know there's something inside you," he began, voice eerily quiet, "that really, really _wants_ to care. Ace wants to give a damn but the Dark won't let him, right?" He turned to look at Dark Ace, his eyes raw with emotion that Dark Ace couldn't understand.

"I need to know you can still perform your duties as a Sub-Commander," stated Dark Ace.

A small sigh, "yes, I can. I can do what need to be done. You know, you were, like, the only thing we ever really felt bad about. Truly, y'know?"

Dark Ace didn't know at all. He felt sick and a little dizzy, he put his hand to his head and pulled away wet, crimson fingers. He was bleeding again.

"Felt bad watching you fight the kid," Snipe rambled on, more to himself than anything, "it stung us to see it. But we couldn't do nothing, even watching you lose to him over and over but never understanding why."

"Save it for a Head Medic when we get you back home," bit out Dark Ace, hating hearing about his failures, "I'm not here for that. Just pull yourself together for now."

"You need a medic for your head, literally," Snipe added when Dark Ace turned to glare at him. "Rain and some of her team are down on the field, she survived the initial impact."

Dark Ace nodded, "What occurred during my absence? How was the large Titan defeated?"

"He wasn't, after he threw you and stomped on the Battle Carrier, he threw mine to the ground killing nearly everyone on board. Then he vanished."

"Vanished?"

"Yeah, into the air, like a magician."

"Damn it," muttered Dark Ace. They really didn't know or understand their enemy at all, and it was killing them. It was like going into a battle with your senses cut off.

"Go sort out my Ride," he ordered Snipe, "we'll be riding together to the near terra. I'm going to get checked by Rain."

"Sure thing boss," Snipe gave a lazy salute which normally Dark Ace would never allow, but, all things considered, he decided to let it slide.

Perhaps there _was_ something deep, deep inside, calling for some degree of compassion. But what that thing was, he didn't know.

He walked through the talons, the smell of sick and sweat was strong. Talons were peeling off their uniforms to dry down damp skin, soothe over sores and wounds, and drying off leather and metal before re-applying them.

Bikes were being slowly fixed and Dark Ace was glad that the recent cuts to the military hadn't yet extended to essentials like bike glue and energy crystals.

He walked purposefully, not bothering to look at any of the talons. Eventually he arrived to where a small tent had been set up. A few talons were being bandaged. Rain, with long grey hair pulled back into a high ponytail and with eyes of dark green which matched her olive tone skin, spotted him immediately.

She passed her patient off onto another medic and went to Dark Ace, removing his bandage and tutting at the re-opened wound. "We are running out of materials Sir," she said without preamble, "one of my brave medics, a boy called Nester, managed to get out two boxed before being crushed inside the carrier when the second wave of Monsters attacked."

"We'll make sure he has a memorial," muttered Dark Ace, his head stinging where she put on rubbing alcohol.

She nodded, knowing he didn't truly care but feeling grateful as long as the boy wouldn't be forgotten. Often, Medics were the lowliest and most ignored of the talons, despite how important they were.

"We will be travelling to the nearest terras." He continued, "Sub-Commander Chicken Feather will be there. We will get medical equipment from his team. The evacuation will be finished by the time we arrive, if it hasn't done so already, so we will have time to restock and heal patients properly."

He felt the tension leave her thing body. "Good," she sighed, "good, thank you sir."

"I need you and your team to remain with us. We will need medical assistance."

"Of course sir," she said tonelessly, "anything for the empire."

Dark Ace felt himself almost smile. If he was able to love, he'd love Talon Rain, just a little bit.

xxXXxx

The weather calmed down just enough for them to leap onto their skimmers and begin another long journey without the fear of being blown off course or off their rides.

Travel was slow and plodding, but there was some hope now; the resilient, defiant type that keeps people going when a loved one becomes terminally ill, or when they realise they will have to cross an ocean in an unsure craft to get to a safe place.

The sky became purple, signaling a sunset behind the thick, weeping clouds.

Dark Ace's body ached. He needed warmth and food and sleep. He imagined his Talons felt no better. He'd have to start treating them better. He always found them useless before now, but, in this drastic situation, he'd been frequently impressed by them. Sure, they still died in spades and were over-emotional and some had even ran and hid during the last battle, but nonetheless they were still here by his side, going to another fight. It was commendable. Perhaps it was the academies that should be punished for the lack of discipline amongst his recruits? Dark Ace made a mental note to mention it to the Master.

Dark Ace made the decision to go to the middle terra out of the three. The three terras were all less than a fifty miles away from one another. The largest one was the middle one; it had a hospital and its own bustling city centre. The other side terras were essentially towns to its city.

As they came closer to the main terra, Dark Ace's previous calm was over-taken by pure, incandescent rage. The people were still there. Not only that but there seemed to be no evacuation going on at all, people were going about their daily lives. There were people still standing about in market places buying and selling.

Dark Ace landed inelegantly onto the terra and pitched an absolute fit.

"Where is Chicken Feather?!" He screamed into the crowds.

A few terrified on-site Talons began to panic, some running away whilst one unfortunate was pushed by his peers to Dark Ace.

The Commander grabbed the front of the boy's shirt and shook him. Around him, he noted all his talons landing onto the ground, the civilians muttering angrily as they were forced to move and make space.

"Where is your sub commander?" shouted Dark Ace, feeling damned near hysterical, "why are all these people still here?!"

"Um," was the intelligent answer. Dark Ace threw the boy to the ground, took a deep breath, then turned to face his people. They were staring at him, eyes wide his betrayal. They were blood soaked and tired.

This was supposed to be a quick rest before a battle, not immediate work. He had promised them the people would be gone, that they would have time to fix up and prepare. He grit his teeth. He'd failed them.

"Mr. Snipe," he breathed out, his voice hoarse with anger, "I need you to go find Chicken Feather and show him how _very_ disappointed I am."

"Sir," Snipe gestured to Hail and Zephyr who, along with their talons, rose up into the air to avoid the crowds and went to find Chicken Feather.

Dark Ace then marched through his talons, who parted like the Red Sea, to go and stand on the base of a large statue.

"Everyone," he called out, "we need you to evacuate immediately. This is not a test, this is not a game. This is serious. Right now everyone is in mortal danger unless we move quickly. Grab your families and move to the evacuation pods. Talons will be there to direct you to the correct ones."

"What's this great danger?" shouted out a sneering voice, "more teenage Sky Knights?"

The crowd, before alarmed by the state of the bloodied talons, now erupted with laughter. Dark Ace stayed silent, feeling himself grow cold. He began to think through some calculations. The populations of Cyclonia were too high, The Master was worried about there being too many people on her terra. Realistically, the deaths of the many civilians so far had likely already fixed a lot of the issues they'd been facing, but what was the deaths of a few hundred more? Surely that would be even more useful.

Instead of arguing with the crowds, he got down on one knee addressing his talons.

"All right," he began, keeping his voice low, "we haven't time for this. Now is the time for you all to start thinking like Talons, like real Talons. It's too late for these people. Anyone here who has family, take them and get them on the evacuation carriers. Otherwise, get to the hospitals and get to mechanics, sort out whatever you need." He checked his watch, "it's been forty minutes since the last terra battle. The Titans are attracted to something about us, be it the noise we make or our smell. They'll be here soon. Is everyone's radio working?"

"Yes sir," they chimed.

"Good. The level of civvies and the nature of our stop means this is going to be chaotic. I need to rely on each and every one of you to be as professional as possible. I know some may thinking this is a time to desert, but there's nowhere to go. The best thing to do is rest and heal. Then, when I call, you need to come to me. You are more likely to survive if we all work together. Understood?"

"Yes sir!"

He looked each of them in the eye. He wanted them to understand how much he was trusting them, how he was essentially letting them go off and do their own thing. The eyes that looked back were tired, but determined. The air of resilience acquired during their journey here had not abated. Even the mockery of the townspeople had not dampened them.

"Good, at ease, go."

Each of the talons went off in different directions, most in small groups. He noted many were heading towards a local hospital, which was where he intended to go himself. A few locals gave the odd looks no doubt regarding their bloodied appearance, but the talons stayed relatively cold towards them. He wondered if they were angry about the mocking, even though it had really been aimed at him. It was strange, the idea that, possibly, his soldiers were loyal to him out of respect rather than fear or coercion.

He sat on the statue base, his body aching too much to stand and radioed Snipe.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Snipe stood at the bottom of the main Evacuation Carrier, people were slowly ambling on with suitcases and legions of boxes.

"The few that decided to take Chicken Feather seriously," Snipe answered, "have decided to bring everything and the kitchen sink along with them. The carriers are over-flowing with people's junk and there isn't enough space for people now."

Dark Ace bit back a loud curse and instead leaned his head onto the statue for a moment, praying for a level of patience.

"Why didn't Chicken Feather stop them?" he ground out, his eyes shut as he fought off another pounding headache.

"Turns out one of the main guys was Tinamou?"

Red eyes snapped open, "the Senator?"

"Yup," Snipe sounded tired and weirdly light-hearted, he was possibly still in shock. "He doesn't respect Chicken Feather and has basically taken over operations, slowing the whole thing down. His stuff takes up most of the space in two of the carriers."

"I'm coming over now, send me the co-ordinates," bit out Dark Ace, "and Snipe, get the people moving!" He had hoped to go to the hospital to sort out his injuries properly, but that would have to wait.

He jumped onto his ride and threaded through the busy streets, people having to leap out of his way. As he got closer to the Evacuation Carriers, he came across more people waiting in traffic. Most were carrying bags and cases.

He scowled. He'd do his best to at least get these people on the carriers as they had bothered to take the commands of Cyclonia seriously.

One of the families packing were a small family called the Calvus family. They consisted of Mother, Father and their youngest daughter Floccus. They had an older son, but he was training in one of Cyclonia's Talon Academies.

Flo put her favourite book in her back pack. She didn't know why they were being asked to leave or for how long it would be, but a sad part of life under occupation was that you had to do whatever your captors told you.

She sighed, feeling her belly rumbling. They hadn't had a proper meal in days. Whilst other terras under Sky Knights blossomed, it seemed all the Cyclonian territories were slowly dying away. It made her wonder if there was any truth to the Ira Priests. Mother thought it was a load of nonsense and that the Priests were taking advantage of people's fear, but Flo felt as if they were cursed. However, none of this made her want to worship Ira. If anything, it made her angrier with the goddess. Why should Flo and her family, friends and neighbors, suffer for what Cyclonia did to them? Shouldn't the goddess actually help, instead of making things even harder?

Flo took one last look at her bedroom before climbing down the stairs and greeting her family. They lived above the family shop, they were grocers, and her parents were debating what food they could hide in shop for their return and what would be worth taking with them.

Flo walked outside and saw her neighbor, a kid called Opacus, sitting around watching them.

"You all packed?" Flo asked.

"Our dad says we shouldn't go," replied Opacus, "he says it's dangerous to disobey the goddess."

"Ugh," Flo put her hands up in the air, "I don't know who's more bossy, Master Cyclonis or your goddess!"

The boy paled, "don't spoeak like that! The goddess will hear, and talons are everywhere!"

Flo shrugged, "I wish we weren't going," she said, "I hate all this."

"Me too," agreed Opacus. "We'll keep an eye on your shop when you're gone, don't worry."

She smiled, looking up at his kind brown eyes and thinking how cute they were. She wasn't ready to date yet, being only ten years old, but she hoped one maybe she and Opacus could go out. He was so nice.

"Flo!" her mother was calling from the doorway of the shop, "Flo, go get in line! We're already late and we want to get on the Carriers as quickly as possible!"

"Why just me?" whined Flo. Her parents were always so busy.

"Because I said so!" shouted her mom, losing patience.

"Honey," she could now hear her father further in the shop, "we need you to save us a space."

"Fine," Flo sighed. "See you later Opacus."

"See ya soon."

xxXXxx

Snipe looked at his radio. Dark Ace sounded pissed, even more so than usual. He sounded tired too. 'Aren't we all?' he thought to himself. He felt strange. He knew what was happening around him was very real, but there was something surreal about it, the Titans, the death, Ravess. It was too much to comprehend in one day and it was making him almost flippant.

He turned to his talons, "listen up. Get all the boxes and other shit in these carriers and throw them out. Throw them off the terra."

The Talons immediately went to work, their weary bodies protesting but the gravity of the situation leaving them no choice but to obey and obey properly.

The on-site Talons, the ones under Chicken Feather, watched with wide eyes. One of them, a brave soul, crept up to the bloodied and weary looking Snipe to say, "Um, Sir, all these boxes are the property of Senator Tinamou."

Snipe looked down at the skinny little wretch.

"You get out there," he said quietly, "and you make everyone in these queues bring no more than one suitcase or bag each. Just one. The most important things. Nothing else. You do it now or, I swear to the gods, I will kill you. Understand?"

"Y-yes Sir." The boy threw a messy salute before running to tell his comrades their new orders.

Flo stood in line dutifully. It was boring, and she was a little surprised the line for the carrier wasn't that long. Seemed people had either gotten bored and wondered off or, like Opacus' family, were ignoring the Cyclonians. Flo couldn't blame them. Everyone was tired and hungry and sick of being bossed around by rulers they never wanted in the first place.

"Hey kid," barked a Talon, "you got anything other than that back pack?"

"No," she answered quietly, a little intimidated by talons.

"Good," he nodded before raising his voice to address the entire queue, "no one is to bring more than one bag!"

The crowd began to immediately complain.

"Just one bag!" said a woman next to Flo, "that's ridiculous! How long are we even leaving for?"

"Just one bag each!" the boy shouted again instead of answering, swaggering up and down the line barking out the same instruction.

The woman, and others, began to mutter angrily, none willing to get rid of their carts laden with goods. Then Flo saw what the Talons on the Carrier were doing.

"Look," she said, pointing. The others looked in that direction.

The Talons were taking all the boxes on the carrier and throwing them over the side of the terra.

"Aren't those the belongings of Lord Tinamou?" asked a man.

Flo nodded, and others responded the affirmative verbally. Everyone could see his symbol on the sides of the boxes. Tinamou was the most powerful and frightening man in all of the three terras. The people began to look at their own things before beginning to sort out what they could leave behind. If Tinamou was having his things thrown overboard, no way were they going to have their things allowed on board.

Flo frowned and gripped the handles of her backpack. Something strange was going on. Something strange and something serious.

Snipe was in the first carrier with his talons, grabbing boxes and flinging them overboard.

"Should we throw everything Sir?" one girl asked, "this is all valuable."

"We can't keep it on the carriers because it's taking up space," he picked up two heavy boxes, "we can't put them somewhere safe because we haven't got time to waste organizing it," he carried them to the entrance, she following at his heels with a slightly smaller box in her own arms, "and we can't just throw it on the street because looters will go crazy trying to grab what they can," he threw the boxes, watching them tumble through the darkening clouds. "Last thing we need before those bastard Titans show up is a god-damned riot."

"Yes Sir," she said, watching her own box full of food falling through the sky.

Snipe looked out to the crowds, "Ok," he called to the nearest talons, "start letting people in."

The carrier was only halfway empty of all the crap Tinamou had put in, but Snipe was feeling antsy about time. The people, on arrival, were ordered to help in removing the boxes. Snipe could see people sneaking the odd crystal in their pockets, but he didn't have time to argue with them.

"Sir," one of the Watchers saluted Snipe after riding in onto the Carrier.

"What?"

"Captain Chicken Feather has been sighted. Once he was close enough we radioed him to come here as soon as possible. He's on his way and should be no longer than eight minutes."

"Good," stated Snipe, "Return to your post. Keep a very close eye out and radio the minute you see something strange."

"Yes Sir."

Snipe looked out the carrier watching the Talon leave on his Ride. The sky was getting darker, the red of earlier now a rich magenta. It reminded him of his sister's hair.

He looked away, feeling angry and sick.

Chicken Feather was in for it.

Meanwhile, Dark Ace was making his way through the painfully busy streets. It would have been more convenient to be on foot, but there was no way in hell he was leaving his Ride behind. Who knows when those things would appear? He ignored the glares of the annoyed crowds and persevered, feeling sore and frustrated. A crowd ahead were gathered, all facing to the right. They took up all the road and the side streets.

Forced to halt, Dark Ace looked over to see that they were watching a robed man preaching on a large brick wall.

"Ira! She is All Seeing and All Knowing!" The man was crying out, his robes a pale blue and made of rare soft materials. Stitched onto his chest was the image of an eye with wings each side of it. It was the symbol of the Ira religion; a goddess of the Old Times who was making a re-appearance.

"She knew you had turned away to these new false gods!" He pointed dramatically at the crowds, "she saw and she allowed you to be beaten and humiliated like dogs by the evil Cyclonians. They take over your lands, they steal your food and money and your children! They make them war puppies- fed to the likes of him!"

Suddenly Dark Ace was being pointed at, and the crowds turned to look at him.

"The goddess knows of your evil you red-eyed mutant!" spat the preacher, "and you will be punished divinely for your crimes!"

Dark Ace stood up, his Ride between his legs.

"All of you need to either go home," he shouted, still feeling the need to warn people despite their annoying ignorance, "or come, now, to the Evacuation Carriers! It is of vital importance! A great danger is on its way!"

"We don't need to listen to you anymore!" shouted one woman, "going on like you're the toughest guy in all the terras. You can't even beat a bunch of children!"

"Not even that. He cannot beat _one_ child!" laughed a man. He held up his son, a young boy with dark red hair, "hell, even my child could beat the great Commander of the Talon forces!"

The crowd began to jeer.

"That's why you steal our sons and daughters for your stupid wars!" shouted one woman, sounding furious and hoarse, "you steal our kids because it's easier for you to boss them around. You coward!"

"The goddess brings this ridicule upon you," cried the preacher.

Dark Ace scowled, getting off his Ride and trying to push it through the crowds. They booed him, a few even throwing a few things at him. Normally this would never stand, but he needed to get to the Evacuation Carriers.

The man with the child pushed forwards, standing next to Dark Ace. "You goddess-damned coward!" he shouted, his son holding his hand, "how about you give us answers!"

"There's no time for this," stated Dark Ace blandly, infuriating the man even more.

"What is wrong with you?" he cried, "you're not even human. How could you be? Everyone knows you are a traitor! Killing your own team! Selling your soul."

"Shut up!" barked Dark Ace, "if you know what's good for you and your brat you'll leave! Now!"

"We don't follow your orders!" the man cried, the crowd agreeing, "all it has ever led to is our suffering! We were a happy community before we became part of cursed Empire!"

"Siding with the Cyclonians," shouted the Priest from atop the wall, "has bought famine and disease. She has cursed this land. No one should be led by a girl-witch! No one should believe her demon-eyed pet!"

Dark Ace sighed, feeling the anger of the crowds pushing in all around him. It was going to turn violent any moment now.

xxXXxx

By the time Chicken Feather arrived at the Carrier, both it and the one next to it were almost full. He could see the third and final one had talons on it throwing out boxes. He gaped, seeing them falling into the Wastelands below as the talons threw them over the terra edge.

He ran to the nearest Talon, some spotty kid who couldn't have been any older than fifteen.

"What's going on?" He asked, "who's in charge? I didn't order this!"

"Sub-Commander Snipe Sir! He says we all need to get our families in now, if we haven't already, 'cause there's no space or time to take on the remaining population," the boy stammered giving an unnecessary amount of information, "he's in the third carrier now."

Chicken Feather ran to the third carrier. It made sense that out of all the commanders, it was Snipe who'd made such a stupid choice. Plus, if Chicken Feather had to deal with anyone he'd rather it be Snipe over Ravess or Dark Ace.

He ran over to the third carrier. Inside were a dozen families, all helping throw out the last of Timou's goods. Chicken Feather winced and ran over to Snipe, giving a smart salute.

"Sir! This-!" Suddenly he was slammed against a wall.

"You were ordered to get the people ready for immediate retreat!" spat Snipe looking almost crazed, his eyes were wild and he stank of sweat and blood.

"I'm sorry!" Chicken Feather cried, "Lord Timou is a member of the Council, he said he would go to Master Cyclonis!"

"Everyone is going to die, horribly, unless we get going now!" Snipe shook him slightly and Chicken Feather noticed all the injuries on his body, cuts and scraps and bruises. He wondered what sort of enemy they were against.

"Please tell me the other two terras are clear," Snipe grounded out.

Chicken Feather felt himself shrinking into his uniform like a turtle, "um, well. Not quite. The first terra, where I've mostly been stationed, is seeing revolt by the people. They're refusing to leave their terra. They say it's against the wishes of the goddess. The Priests have been whipping the people into a frenzy. The people are starving and bitter and angry and they blame us. We tried forcing people but to no avail. I ordered the people to be left and the carriers sent here instead. They'll be arriving soon."

Snipe felt a wave of dizziness but ignored it, "Ok, what of the third Terra?"

"Captain Redhawk was minding that one, but I haven't had chance to check it yet."

"What!"

"With the drama here caused by Timou, then the insubordination of the first terra, I just haven't had time sir. I'm sorry!"

"How is Redhawk doing, have you been in contact with him?"

"He stopped talking to us. They all have. That's why I was on my way there, to check it out, before I was called here by the Watchers."

Snipe felt himself going cold. The blood drained from his face.

"How long ago did communications go down?"

"Um, not sure. I haven't heard from anyone in just under an hour."

Snipe let him go, Chicken Feather dropping slightly.

"It can't be too bad," he said, brushing himself down and feeling a little humiliated, "if it was something terrible to Watchers would have alerted us." He looked up to see Snipe brushing a shaking hand over his face.

"Sir?" He asked. He now saw that a lot of the blood on Snipe's uniform was not his own. He resisted reaching out to the Sub- Commander.

Snipe took out his radio.

Back in the throng of an angry, anti-Cyclonian crowd, Dark Ace picked up his radio. "What?" he yelled down it, too impatient for normal protocol.

"The third terra," said Snipe's voice, "the most southern one under the captain Redhawk, has gone dark. Chicken Feather says nothing's been heard for under an hour."

"Can he be more specific than that?" shouted Dark Ace, trying to keep his voice from going too high and betraying his panic.

"No Sir." Snipe sounded tired.

"Get the carriers moving," ordered Dark Ace, shouting over the crowds, "get the people out-"

 ** _Crack!_**

The crowd around him stilled, and a few gasped in horror. The air changed.

Dark Ace closed his eyes. He knew who had just made an appearance.


End file.
